State of the Month - Arizona

Here is the next instalment of my newish monthly feature going through the States of the United States in alphabetical order to check out how they got named, what their flag is like and other things of interest.  It would be great if you shared other info/comments about the State with us via a comment.

Today's State is in the South West - Arizona.  It was the 48^th State to be admitted to the Union.  Only about 15% of the State is privately owned land!

More people live in Arizona than in the whole of New Zealand.  In fact the population of New Zealand and of Phoenix are around the same.  The sun shines in Phoenix for more than 85% of daylight time – wow!

The famous gunfight at the OK Corral in Tombstone was set in Arizona.

The best preserved meteor crater in the world is found in Winslow, Arizona.

Nicknames – the Grand Canyon state, the Copper State

Flag

State Seal

Capital – Phoenix (Glen Campbell sang By The Time I Get to Phoenix – and he is a notable resident)

Flower – Saguaro blossom – this the blossom of a kind of cactus.  These are very slow growing indeed.

The Grand Canyon – I've posted about this already here

Famous people born in Arizona – John McCain  (former Presidential candidate), Frank Lloyd Wright (architect), Lynda Carter (WonderWoman), Stevie Nicks (Fleetwood Mac), Linda Ronstadt

Go to this Pinboard to see the States of the Month so far.